Boxwell Patches II

With the 55th Anniversary of Old Hickory Boxwell in 2014 a not-that-distant memory, it is sometimes hard to remember that there were earlier anniversaries.  This only stands to reason and it further makes sense that these anniversaries would be marked.

The patch shown here marks the 25th Anniversary of Boxwell in 1984.  If you remember, the first staff reunion was the year before in 1983, completely by coincidence!

What makes the patch interesting for us is the dates listed here: 1959-1984.  There has been a running “controversy” for many years about how to mark anniversaries of camp.  Clearly, using the traditional method of anniversaries–one full year leading to the next–the patch marks 25 years.  However, camp “years” can be counted another way.  As camp staff only exists for one summer, that one summer counts as a year.  Therefore, unlike a marriage anniversary which needs a calendar year to complete, a camp “year” is completed every time a staff ends.

Why 1959? As we pointed out last week, this is when the first camporee occurred at the reservation, even if summer camp that year was still held at Rock Island.

This patch marks the 25th Anniversary of Boxwell on Old Hickory Lake. The dates of how to demarcate the years of Boxwell continues to this day